Tag: J-Street

WASHINGTON (JTA) — An otherwise congenial meeting between Jewish organizational officials and Democratic senators included a moment when Sen. Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, said Orthodox Jews should do more to call out President Donald Trump for failing to confront hate in the United States.

Schumer, D-N.Y., described what he depicted as a tepid reaction to Trump’s equivocation following the neo-Nazi and white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August.

Members of the Orthodox group present at the meeting on Wednesday, the Orthodox Union, responded by saying that it and other groups had expressed concerns about Trump’s…

WHIPPANY, New Jersey (New Jersey Jewish News via JTA) — Alan Sagner, a former chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a major benefactor of Jewish and liberal causes and the Democratic Party, died Jan. 3 at his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. He was 97 years old.

A real estate developer and builder by profession, Sagner served as chairman of the Port Authority beginning in 1977, in an era when the regional transportation agency expanded rail service and modernized highways in the New York metropolitan area. It also facilitated the revitalization of New York’s Times Square.

WASHINGTON (JTA) — More than 300 Jewish clergy wrote Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging him not to demolish nearly half the buildings in a Palestinian village that Israel has deemed unauthorized.

“The village of Susiya, like its counterparts throughout Area C of the West Bank, has consistently had its applications for building permits denied,” said the letter sent Tuesday, referring to the area of the West Bank wholly under Israeli control. “We are taught in the Torah that there must be one law for all, yet the settlers living alongside Susiya are allowed to participate in…

(JTA) — J Street, the liberal Middle East policy group, condemned remarks by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that the Palestinians may pull out of efforts to reach a settlement.

Abbas made the threat in a speech Tuesday at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, where he also said the United States can no longer mediate peace talks because of President Donald Trump’s declaration last week that the United States recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“The United States can and must play a vital and productive role in facilitating negotiations toward a comprehensive two-state solution,” read the statement by J Street, in…

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Two months ago, President Donald Trump triggered a deadline about to come due on the Iran nuclear deal by decertifying Iran’s compliance. That meant Congress had 60 days to reimpose sanctions.

Sixty days later — on Dec. 12 — Congress is not about to reimpose sanctions. So what happens now?

Let’s review:

Like it or not, the Iran deal is not going anywhere at least for another month.

The 2015 agreement forged between Iran and six nations led by the United States trades sanctions relief for Iran’s agreement to roll back its nuclear program.